This one came down to the wire. Final Fantasy V Advance, the GBA port of Final Fantasy V is my first and last game beaten in March. Yeah, it took me a while, but getting through all of these rpgs can get to be too much sometimes- I had to put this down for a while halfway through, and my laughable monthly goals assumed I wouldn't get back to it until April. Well, I did get back to it, and it is done. Anyway, FF V. It was great! It feels a lot like was FF III should have been and more- the job system actually worked this time. Switching jobs in III was a hassle and I avoided it whenever possible, but FF V really encouraged experimentation with different jobs. Basically, the more you play with one job, you'll earn new abilities that can be used even when you got a different job. My strategy for the endgame was to level up a lot with a knight, dragoon, and samurai to earn the 'equip sword', 'equip katana' and 'equip lance' abilities, equip the corresponding legendary weapon, then combine these with the dancer job to do tons of damage with every hit. Anyway, aside from the job system, everything else seems to be pretty standard fare for Final Fantasy games at the time (by which I mean IV.) The story falls into the same usual cliches, but like FF IV before it, the game was more than the usual "you are heroes of destiny, go save the world from the bad guy!" but much more subdued than the plots of the later games that resemble bad drug trips. So yeah, no regrets about playing this one, but unfortunately for such a great series that means this is also one of the worst of the bunch. Still well worth a play, if at least to see how fun a decent job system can be.
Well done. If I'm not mistaken, this leaves you with nothing left besides 2, 6, 7, 8, and 13 (excluding online-only bullshit). I can't speak for 13 (yet) but 2 was quick and easy enough not to be annoying like 3 was, while 6 through 8 are possibly the best three in the series. (I wasn't a huge 8 fan, but they're out there. Boy, are they out there.) I've been playing this series on and off for most of my life, and yet in just a year you've managed to practically catch up with me (9, 12, and 13 are my three remaining backlogged Final Fantasy games in the main series). Race you to the end of 13? Wait, no. That doesn't sound like fun for either of us. Anyway, my next one (perhaps as soon as this month?) will be X-2. Shudder...
ReplyDeleteI might hold off for a bit on 2 as I've played a few too many non-acclaimed FF games lately. I also want to wait on 7 and 8 in case I get a PSP (PSP Go's are like $100 used at Gamestop, and I don't care that everyone hates them, I like the sliding screen and digital content). I hear 8 is the most exploitable game in the series though, so it doesn't sound too hard. So that leaves my likely next ones as 13, which I know is probably the longest of all and one that Trev hates, or 6, one you've heaped acclaim on. I can't say I'll get to any of them this month, but one of those two is likely next.
ReplyDelete